Is There Thanksgiving in Japan? And Other Important Questions
J-List’s big Black Friday sale has started a week early to give our customers time to get their orders. Score 10x J-List points on all orders, which are store credits that can be used for any future orders. This translates to 20% cashback as in-store credit on your order. So make a big order before the sale ends Thursday!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S., a day for pausing our busy lives and giving thanks for the good things we all have. Since there’s no Thanksgiving tradition in Japan, I had to get used to having the second most important holiday of my year being just another workday, which was hard at first. Over the years I’ve tried my best to keep the proper Thanksgiving spirit, insisting that we install a proper oven — a rare thing in most Japanese kitchens — when we built our house so I could bake turkey and pumpkin pie. These days Thanksgiving is a simpler affair, usually consisting of chicken from Costco or if I’m busy, a trip to Colonel Sanders-san.
I give thanks to the family and friends that support me, as well as you, our many awesome customers who have made the great adventure of J-List possible for the past 21 years. I also give thanks for the world we live in. Although it’s easy to get caught up in negative energy and politics and come to view the world as simply terrible, I believe it’s an awesome place, the best place ever. We’ve all got cheap supercomputers in our pockets, better medicine to protect us from diseases than any previous generation, Uber ridesharing plus amazing advances in dentistry. There are all kinds of opportunities for us in the future, as long as we approach them with the right attitude. On top of all these great things, we have a sexy Stormtrooper, Boba Fett and “Slave Elsa” cosplay to enjoy. What could be better?
One feature of Japanese is that it can be quite vague, with subjects and even objects left out of sentences as the meaning is usually clear from the context. Yesterday my wife chatted with me, giving me details of a trip “she” was going to make to the bank on Friday. I said, “That’s nice, honey, do you need me to do anything while you’re at the bank?” It turned out she was telling me that I needed to go to the bank, but I had misjudged the meaning because it was not stated. J-List’s Sailor Moon buyer Mai helps me out with the J-List Blog, setting up the ridiculously detailed product reviews I write. Yesterday she came into my office to ask some questions about the Hifumi oppai toy we were going to post a review for (which is online here). Because the toy is called Daijoubu? Oppai Momu? (“Are you feeling okay? Would you like to squeeze my breasts?”), and because Japanese omits unnecessary words, it sounded like Mai was asking me if I wanted to squeeze her boobs. There was an awkward pause, then we both cracked up at the hilarity of the situation.
J-List knows our customers need extra time for shipping to their home countries, so we’re giving you a hand by starting our Black Friday sale festivities early! For one week, you’ll get a massive 10x J-List points on all orders, which basically means 20% cash back on your order as in-store credit, which you can use with your next purchase. Also, you’ll get one of those kawaii Megumi Christmas stickers which are only available while stocks last. So make sure to browse our new products and make an order! (Please note that Fukubukuro grab bags are already discounted and don’t receive the extra points.)
